Flour mills to invest N34bn in Niger community

Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) Plc has said it plans to spend about N34 billion over the next 10 years to develop Sunti community in Niger state, hosting one of its sugar plants, Sunti Golden Sugar Estates (SGSE).

Chairman of the company, Mr John Coumantaros, said this during an official visit by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Niyi Adebayo, to Sunti Sugar factory over the weekend, as the country pursues self-sufficiency in sugar production.

Coumantaros stated that the decision to invest such huge amount in the development of the host community was to create an opportunity for other businesses in the area to grow.

He said the money would be used to build infrastructure such as roads, schools and electricity.

“We will be spending about N34 billion over the next 10 years in support of the community and development of infrastructure in the area, so this is a huge expenditure expected to create jobs and also give the people education to make their life look good.

“It’s a tremendous transformational move as we will be having about 10,000 employees for the factory and another 50,000 of indirect jobs around the area.

“We have already employed about 5000 people, we have got five community schools, we are working on putting electricity in the area and there is no future without development.

“This is revolutionising and dramatically changing not only the Sunti community but Niger state because this is one of the biggest investments in the state in agriculture and industry,” Coumantaros said.

He stated further that Sunti Sugar Estates is the most significant investment of a Sugar Backward Integration Project (BIP) under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP), with an investment of over N64 billion.

Coumantaros also said that the company had been adjudged by the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), as the most productive BIP, under the NSMP with a score of 58 per cent and as such would remain the first and only greenfield investor producing raw sugar.

He urged the minister to ensure that all operators were allowed a level playing field in the monitoring, assessment of BIP and allocation of quota. (NAN)

Leave a Reply